Powell’s “Lower or Higher” Rates Comment in a $100 Oil World

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said rates may need to be *either* lower or higher from here, just as oil sits above $100 because of the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz blockade. That one sentence captures the bind central banks are in: energy is pushing inflation up, but the same shock is also choking growth and raising recession risk. For an ordinary investor, this tug‑of‑war helps explain why mortgage costs, savings rates and stock prices all feel unstable at the same time, and why markets keep swinging as hopes for quick rate cuts fade while bond yields now fall on growth fears.